On the Road; A Season Traveling Abroad as a Splitboarder

[::: :::]

serious jealousy
signing up...gonna read it all later

[Kyle Miller]

With a descent weekend forecast Ryan Nicols and I came up with a plan to traverse from the RoundHill Ski Field to Mount Dobson


From our vantage point we could see past the McKenzie Basin all the way to Mount Cook National Park.



In the end the snowpack was far too thin and we did far more ridge scrambling than riding



We started off just after sunrise and arrived at Dobson just after dusk. We never stopped moving and in the end the trip was 16kms





After a week of pretty dire conditions a Easterly storm finally rolled in and we made our way into the Cragieburn Range.



We made our way to Porters for the opening of the upper chair





But with flat light and a thin snowpack we decided to skin in the slackcountry.



The next day dawned clear and we made our way back towards the Craigieburns



And instead we went to Mount Cheeseman which turned out to be a sleeper day





There were only 9 cars in the parking lot when they opened the upper mountain and allowed people to hike out to Mount Cockayne.



It turned out to be a great day.



Over the next few days I spent some time North past the Waimakariri River


And spent some time exploring Temple Basin up in Arthur's Pass National Park





Though amazing it is pretty intimidating at first



But it is located in one of the coolest areas.



And the terrain is out of this world.



I was pretty stoked on the place and looking forward to returning in better conditions.



That weekend I met up with Ryan Nicols and Pow Slash Wigley and for our first mission we went into the Arthur's Pass Backcountry.


The snowpack was still quite thin but we were interested in a couloir on the right side of the picture followed by climbing to the top of the cirque and exiting via Temple Basin.



The couloir held wind packed pow



Where we were able to ride to the creek below



And then we were able to climb up and over the ridge



Where we watched the sunset over Temple Basin



And rode down Cassidy Peak in the afternoon alpenglow



The next day we decided to head for the more stable weather of the Craigieburns and check out the options around Mount Cheeseman




We were above a sea of clouds and hoping that they wouldn't move up throughout the day.



Our goal that day was to ride the South face of Mount Wall



So we rode down to the creek at the base of the valley



And climbed right up the gut



Once again we experienced wind packed pow.



Then bushwhacked back to the parking lot.

[Kyle Miller]

Chapter 11: It's time to bring out the Crampons

The next weekend we made our way out towards Mount Cook Village where Ryan Nicols his girlfriend Ellie, Yossi and his girlfriend Christine and Pow and I made our way up Twin Stream towards Mount Dark.


The fist day we made our way to the base of the mountain than early the next morning we made our way up the main headwall.



The snow was still quite firm as we started getting into some serious ski mountaineering.



Near the summit Mount Cook and the Tasman Glacier came into view.



The stoke radar was going off the scales.



and before long we had made it to the summit.



Looking at the high glaciers of the main divide to the west and the deserts of the Mckenzie country to the right.



We dropped in at the perfect time and had a great corn run from top to bottom.



It was quite the exciting line





By now the resorts were feeling the effects of a low snow year


But we still went out to see what we could find





It seemed the only slopes holding and descent snow was SE aspects.



But there was still wind packed powder after two weeks without any precipitation.




I had the good fortune to make my way out to Australia and be part of the First Light Australian Splitboard festival put on by Adam West. Before long I was flying up and other The Southern Alps



And saying goodbye to the main divide and hoping over the pond



For the next view days Adams friend Dave was kind enough to let us stay with him up in Jindyebine



I was fortunate to hook up with a few locals that took me deep into the West facing slopes



Where we found steep lines and great edgeable corn.



I had the good fortune to ride with John Blankenstein






Thought there aren't many areas there are steeps to be found in the range.



and I was fortunate for John to show them to me.



But the Gum Trees rally make the place special.



and the characters we met along the way



Adam put on an amazing Splitboard festival as he has for the past few years and after a few days I was off on the road again.


With a brief layover in Canberra

[Kyle Miller]

Chapter 12 ; You can take our house but you can't take my freedom

There was no use in trying to stay in a relationship that didn't work so I said goodbye to Estee and started focusing on what huts I could make it to via the bus of the bus system. So I hopped on a bus and made my way out to Mount Cook Village to ride some north facing corn lines based out of the Muller Hut with Pow Slash Wigley.

MOUNT COOK VILLAGE; NEW ZEALAND

The Mckenzie Country is pretty special when you drive past the shores of Lake Pukaki with Mount Cook and the Main Divide in the distance.


Before long we were hiking up the Sealy Tarns track with enough food and gear for 5 days.


Making our way to the upper plateau with the Mount Cooks SW facing shining in the distance.


The next morning we woke up to a surreal sunrise.




The Muller hut has 28 bunks and is centrally located in the Sealy Range. During the summer it is booked nonstop but during the winter the place is quiet.




Below us and to the South was the Muller glacier but we focused our efforts on the terrain above.


It was a nasty traverse but well worth the effort.


We made our way up to some nice smooth north facing corn runs


and from our vantage point we would look all the way out to Lake Pukaki to the East


And Mount Cook to the North.


Over the next few days we would follow conditions and ride some awesome lines






Every morning we would wake up for the sunrise




And ride whatever line got our attention




Making our traverse back to the hut at the end of the day


We met some awesome people along the way and after Pow left I hung around an additional day With Damian Banwell of Mountain Life Magazine based out of Japan.


My final day there we attempted to ride down to the Muller but with firm blind rollers and little room for mistake we decided it wasn't going to happen.


So we made our way to Mount Cook Village and Damien was kind enough to give me a ride to Christchurch so I could stock up on food and get out on my next mission.

[Kyle Miller]

In the end it would be a month of high pressure and not a drop of rain so we made the decision to do a traverse of the Craigieburn Range with an overnight stop over and Mount Olympus.


With a license to Chill Pass I made my way up the Craigieburn Nut Crackers while John Blankenstein and Pow Slash Wigley boot packed up the slopes




Conditions were pretty dire


The cool thing about the traverse is that it passes 5 resorts along the way. This pic was Broken River.



accessed by the world famous nut crackers



The ridges were pretty scoured


But we were able to find just enough snow on SE facing slopes


But anything NW facing was melted out


All day we would ride down the ridge


and hike up the other side


That night we relaxed in Mount Olympus's hot tub and enjoyed our time at one of the coolest resorts in the world. It had been ten years since my last visit.


The next day we put our heads down and hiked from Mount Olympus to Porters


With the only people to great us being a gang of Kea's


The next few days we made our way up to Temple Basin for the New Zealand Splitboard festival put on by Shane Orchard and Richard Harcourt of Splitn2.


Both Friday and Saturday were weather days but finally the weather improved on Sunday


And we made the best out of the occasion watching the snow melt before our eyes.


A few days later the storms arrived once again and we made our way out to Craigieburn


It was only one of a handful of powder days so everybody was there


But the conditions had gone from zero to hero


Being a Nutcracker based resort it kept the snow in good conditions all day.


And once it became too tracked for our liking we started hiking


And enjoyed the long fall line runs Craigieburn offers




The next trip was on a bus down to Queenstown were we met up with our friend Adam Flemming from SplitboardNZ and did a tour in his backyard, The Remarkables.




We had intended on riding a line far to the South but conditions deteriorated so we made our way back towards the single cone which was basking in the sunlight.




And we were able to find a couloir that looked to be in good condition.


Turns out it was

[Kyle Miller]

After a day hanging out near Queenstown and getting my coffee fix while riding on a moa we were off on our next hut trip.


Soon enough we were hiking up the Routeburn Track with all of our ski gear.




We stayed at the Routeburn Falls hut which is a 48 bunk hut right on the edge of the alpine.


With all the new snow from the past storm we decided to have a leisurely day and check out the terrain







We climbed up to Conical Hill on the border of Aspiring National Park and Fiordand






The next day we set our eyes on Xenius Peak


And climbed to the Summit proper with views of the Humbolt Range.




After the exposed summit ridge it was a long cruiser back to the lake.




Pow went back to Christchurch while I hitched a ride north


Meeting up Manu we were on a ski mission into Nelson Lakes National Park.


That afternoon we traversed 5 hours towards the Angelus Hut making it there well after sunset.




The Angelus ht is a 28 bunk on the outflow of Angelus lake on the right side of the picture.


It gave great access to shoreline runs


With consistent pitches all the way to the lake.




Most aspects were in corn condition but occasionally we would find pow.


The hut was built a few years back.


And we were able to follow the sunshine all the way until the days end.





Over the next 3 days we would put tracks all over the surrounding slopes




Getting further and further away from the hut as the days went on.


With a threatening forecast and diminishing food we decided it was time to head back into civilization


Making our way back along the 10kms watching a storm brew in the distance before it slammed in on the ridge.


But by then we were in the Beech Forest


and making our final steps down the switchbacks to the car park.

[Kyle Miller]

The next trip would take us past Castle Hill


and over the Waimakareri


Until we were walking up to Temple Basin which had just received new snow.


Hiking in chin deep pow until we reached the resort


and I was able to finally get out with my good friend Chris Rayner.


Though it was a pow day there was only 10 people who actually picked up a lift ticket.


So we pretty much had the resort to ourselves


Theres a reason they call Temple resort accessed backcountry


It was early October and by far the best day I had at Temple all season.


We were able to score first tracks in the Mingha Bowl


and follow a boot pack put in by the group in front of us. If you've never been to Temple it is a must.


Sadly it was time for Pow to head back home to Nelson British Columbia and I still had a month and a half to go.

[Kyle Miller]

For the next trip I met up with my friend Shannon who I met up at Dobson and we took his 4wd truck 21 kms up the Macauley River Valley to the Macauley hut.


Built for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts this is by far the nicest shelter I have seen in New Zealand.


Over the night a storm rolled in and freshly coated the valley floor.







The next day we decided to head up into the alpine above the hut









Mount Sibbald












The next day we drove up to check out the Godley Valley




And at the last river crossing Shannon got his truck stuck in the Macauley River

[Kyle Miller]

The next trip was to be the longest as I packed for a 7 day ski plane mission up the Tasman and over to the Murchison Glacier Hut with my friends Dan, Shannon and Chloe from NZ and Christina and Peter from home.



Here she is Mount Cook/Aoraki's East face


Flying past the Grand Plateau


Looking down at the Tasman Saddle Hut hanging onto the rock.


Over the next 6 days this vast area was our backyard.


Looking into the Godley Valley from the summit of Sydney King.


One day while Christina Peter and I were touring we ran into a random group. It just to be Eben Sargent and his friend Jaimie. Here we were in the middle of nowhere yet all 5 of us had ties to Seattle.


We were able to make pick our way down to the Classen Glacier


Then back down to the Murchison Glacier.


One of the days we climbed the Murcheson Glacier Headwall to check out the Tasman Glacier and the Kelman hut.


Finding smooth corn on the headwall.


The scenery was a bit dramatic.


One of the days we made it up to Copper Peak


And found some steeps to ski.


The weather turned for the worse as we were hut bound for 3 days.


There was a lot of book reading and food cooking but it did snow sideways.


Shannon, Chole and Dan left right before the storm came in and I decided to stay with Peter and Christina who were planning on traversing for 18 days. I decided to tag along grabbing food from the boxes left behind at the huts and seeing how long it lasted.


When the storm lifted it left behind a fresh blanket of powder.


And we got out of the hut first thing the next day.


It was pretty cool getting pow in late October.


We decided to leave the Murchison Hut and check out a new zone so we went to the Kelman Hut on the Tasman Glacier.


And enjoyed pow turns at sunset.


They call Kelman the fridge on the ridge because its impossible to warm up the 28 bunk hut but it's situated in the perfect spot.


To the West is the Tasman Glacier


and to the East is the Murchison Glacier


Pretty rad spot for a hut.


You can see all the way to the Tasman sea on clear days.


We were hut bound as a storm raged outside for 2 days dropping 8 inches of pow. The first morning it cleared up we were riding down the Tasman Glacier racing the sun to get the good snow.


Our first run took us all the way down to the main lobe of the Tasman 3000 feet below before putting on our skins


and breaking trail all the way up to the Hochstter Dome

[Kyle Miller]

From our vantage point we could look right into the Main Divide.


and the gnarly terrain of the West Coast.


By the end of our 4000 foot run the pow started to get a bit slushy


The next day we went to explore the Darwin Glacier


We made our way to the sub peak of Hamilton


And found some good steeps to keep us busy.


Skinning back up to the Kelman hut was pretty impressive.


A lenticular on Cook warns us of a coming storm.


Sunset over Mount De Archiac


After weathering about another storm for 2 days we decided it was time to hop ship and head down the Tasman Glacier


And do some moraine bashing up and over De La Beche Corner


The Tasman glacier buried under rock. The glacier extends all the way to the lake way off in the distance.


Our plan was to go up and over Graham Saddle and over to the West Coast.


We weren't exactly excited about the weather but decided to push on


To get onto the main glacier we had to climb the steep slope on the right until getting above the Icefall and onto the Rudolph Glacier.


The wind was some of the most brutal I've ever encountered but before long we were on the Franz Joesph Glacier looking out at the Tasman Sea.


The area receives so much moisture that it has created an Ice cap.


But the peaks to the North were dramatic.


We stayed at the Centennial Hut for for 5 days total and 3 of them were storm days


When the weather broke we made our way up and over to the Fox glacier and explored the area for a bit.


But the area had quite a few buried hazards that demanded our attention.


Before we made our way down the Fox glacier.


To the Chancelour Hut where we waited for a heli ride to Fox Village.


In the end the trip totaled 18 days and for the next 3 days I walked around in my snowboard boots.

[Kyle Miller]

For the next leg of the trip I took a plane to the North Island


And made my way up to Mount Ruapehu where it had snowed 30 cms and enjoyed an epic day of riding at Turoa


That afternoon both Shannon and I skinned up and over the volcano and dropped down to the NZAC hut in whiteout conditions.


The next morning we were out of the hut at 3:00 A.M. and made it to the summit around 5:00


That morning we rode a pow lap to the full moon.


and watched the most epic of sunrises.




I first focused my attention on riding the East facing glaciers which were corn.


Than I went up and over the true summit.


and got first tracks down the southern face before taking everyones bootpack back to the summit.


It was pretty lonely out there and in total I rode 6 lines and 13,000 vertical feet


But than I met up with local shredder Nick Voltaren


and he showed me where the good lines were




Below me is a 3000 foot pow line.


I was able to ride to the end of the flat in the distance.


Rad terrain to be found on the volcano


That afternoon I made my way back to the summit in a whiteout and was able to make my way back to the north side where I rode back to the hut.


Looking at Ruapehu's northern side from base camp.


Looking at Teranaki from the hut


The Pinnacles and Whakapapa


The next day a storm started brewing up but with a rainshadow on the NW side I decided to head to the summit for sunset.


After watching the lightshow I made my way back down to the hut.


Then the storm raged for 2 days.


and I awoke to 30cms of new snow.


So I climbed to the summit and got a 3000 foot pow run.


Followed by riding a couloir in the Pinnacles.


The resort was all but abandoned


But I was more than happy to track it out.




The North Island has some wild terrain.




Over the week the Volcano received over 60 cms of new. It was by far a highlight of my trip.

[Kyle Miller]

My time in New Zealand was running short being Mid November I had a week and a half to go so I hitched to the Wellington Airport


And flew down to Queenstown


Where I met up with Adam Flemming again and we skinned up Remarkables in 20cms of new snow.


We made our way up to the Radio Tower both to ride a good line and to get a view of Lake Wakatipu.


From our vantage point we could see both Frankton and Queenstown.


The Otago is a beautiful place.


and we were able to find enough coverage to ride some fun lines.


This was my first time in the resort in 10 years


And it was cool to see the terrain again.


Not to mention finding this well protected line in perfect knee deep pow.


It turned out to be the best snow I experienced in the Remarkables all year.


The next trip I was heading up the Reese Valley with my friend Manu at 4:00a.m.


Making our way up Clarke slip


And over to Mount Clarke


We skinned up with Mount Earnslaw to our backs


And from the summit I got my first view of the Reese and Dart valleys


and the Gateway to the Olivine Wilderness




Lake Wakatipu in the distance.


We made it off clear in wind packed pow right as the weather was coming in.


And down Clarke slip to the valley below.


and racing towards the car park as the weather turned for the worse.


For my last snowboard trip in New Zealand I made my way up Treble Cone late November with Manu


It would be my only time in Lake Wanaka all season


The storm had dropped enough new snow to skin from the parking lot


and we made our way up and over to saddle basin


We were able to find continuos lines almost to the base of the chair.


Then we would lay out a good skin track


I didn't actually make it into the Matukituki valley this season.


it was a great day up at TC




and we didn't see a single other person



and for my last run of the 2014 season we were able to ride all the way back to the car in awesome powder conditions.


I got back home on Thursday and by Sunday my 2015 season already started riding Pow at Crystal.


Well I hope you enjoyed the ridiculously long TR. Thanks for reading.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Jesus dude, I don't even know where to begin... well done!

[LeeLau]

I'd almost say Kyle won for the year this Tr was so good

[Kyle Miller]

Thanks for the kind words. Just had to force myself to sit down and start posting.

I had to go to 6 different coffee shops in Christchurch to use there Internet and upload photos

[Buster Highmen]

Thanks for providing vicarious pleasures.
Some theme music:

[firstlight]

Make sure come back and visit us again for a 3rd year mate.
If you can squeezzze us in!

Cheers
Adam

[stalefish3169]

Amazeballs

[JTrue]

Yeah buddddyyyyy!

[Gcooker]

Amazing dude, great TR, loved how you just bounced place to place to get the goods.

[Norseman]

Superb collection of photographs. Thoroughly enjoyed looking at every one.

[neck beard]

Huge. Very nice. Lots of ground covered, Myle Killer.

[bs]

I had to go to 6 different coffee shops in Christchurch to use there Internet and upload photos

haha that's the real feat of endurance here! what's that, like $30 worth of long blacks?

what a TR, i'm still working my way through it, one lunch break at a time. it's rad to see a few of my photos in a prize-winning TR, though it only serves to remind me how much it sucks that i broke my ankle this summer instead of coming down to NZ to shred ice with you.